News · First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (FR) · Real Estate

First Industrial Realty Trust falls after quarterly results cut slightly below estimates

Session of October 22, 2026 · Published October 23, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

First Industrial (FR) fell 6.9% on October 22, 2026, because its third-quarter results missed earnings per share estimates. The stock closed at $55.29 after opening 5.7% below the previous close and traded at 3.7 times its 20-day average volume. The company reported company-reported FFO of $0.81 per share versus $0.76 a year earlier and raised the midpoint of full-year FFO guidance by $0.01, according to Zacks and PRNewsWire. Reported earnings per share were $0.44 against $0.47 expected, 5.5% below estimates, and management pointed to stronger leasing performance and same-store operating improvement as drivers of the modest guidance lift.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 22, 2026, FR closed at $55.29, down 6.9% on the day and 9.9% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The drop was a large company-specific reaction: the session move was 5.4 times a typical daily move for this stock and trading volume was 3.7 times its 20-day average. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% on the day while the Real Estate sector median rose 2.5%, making the stock's move 9.4 percentage points worse than the sector median. Over the last five sessions the stock fell 5.9% while the S&P 500 fell 1.0%. The stock's beta is 0.58, indicating it tends to move less than the market.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 22, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.2%, so the latest move equals 5.9 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 2.3%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The stock sat 6.7% below its 20-day moving average, 9.3% below its 50-day moving average and 10.1% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend, and the Relative Strength Index (14 days) is 27, below the common oversold threshold of 30. First Industrial is 20.9% below its 52-week high, has fallen 9.5% over one month and 17.5% over three months, while over one year it fell 0.4%, leaving it 14.2 percentage points behind the S&P 500. Volatility is 20% annualized over 60 days, lower than 65% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. FR ends the period 19.7% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($60.96) and below its 200-day average ($61.49).

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 30, 2026, revenue was $775.3 million, up 8.6% from a year earlier and slightly faster than the 8.4% growth recorded one quarter earlier. Diluted earnings per share for the period were $2.69, which rose 50.3% from a year earlier. Gross margin was 48.3% versus 73.6% a year earlier, and operating margin was 41.6% versus 36.9% a year earlier. Free-cash-flow margin is 56.9%, return on invested capital is 5.6%, and the balance sheet shows net cash of $42.4 million. Share count over one year increased by 0.1%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $197M, 8.6% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

The stock trades at 20.6 times trailing earnings and 21.7 times expected forward earnings, with a free-cash-flow yield of 5.7%. Its price-to-earnings reading is lower than 81% of its own readings over the past five years (five-year median: 23.8 times earnings). PromtFinance scores rank Value 79 (Positive), Growth 76 (Positive), Quality 73 (Positive), Momentum 45 (Neutral), Revisions 74 (Positive) and Stability 86 (Strong).

Earnings and analyst expectations

The company reported last on October 21, 2026, with earnings per share of $0.44 against $0.47 expected, 5.5% below estimates. Reported NAREIT FFO was $0.80 per diluted share (MarketBeat) and company-reported FFO was $0.81 per share (Zacks) versus $0.76 a year earlier. Management raised the midpoint of full-year FFO guidance by $0.01 and cited leasing strength and same-store operating improvement for the modest upward revision. The stock has recorded zero consecutive quarters beating estimates; its average surprise over the last four reports is 74.3% above estimates and the typical two-day reaction after recent reports was a 0.5% rise.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $0.44, against $0.49 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts number 29 and have a consensus price target of $72.13, 30.5% above the closing price. Sixty-two percent of those covering the stock rate it as Buy or Strong Buy; the consensus rating is Buy.

What to watch

Next report due February 3, 2027.
Management commentary on leasing and same-store NOI trends after an upward revision of 2026 cash same-store NOI growth guidance by 75 basis points (PRNewsWire).
Any detail on the acquired 100%-leased 764,000 SF building in central Pennsylvania for $120 Million and its contribution to cash rental and NOI performance.
Changes in consensus estimates or guidance following the EPS miss of $0.44 versus $0.47 expected.
Trading volume and price action relative to the 20-day and 50-day moving averages in the weeks after the report.

Full FR analysis: scores, chart and financials →